pturrentine

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

At the time of my last entry, everything had gone south in terms of actually having my surgery. The hospital, at the very last minute had declined to accept Care Credit, the option we had been offered at the information session should our insurance not be willing to cover the cost of the surgery. Two days before my surgery was scheduled, I was writing a thank you note to my surgeon and her staff for all their efforts in trying to make this all happen. It certainly did not look good. The next day, I had just arrived at work when my phone rang. It was Dr. Lee's office. It was March 9th, my daughter's birthday. Kim, from Dr. Lee's office told me that Dr. Lee had gone to the CEO of the hospital and told him that what they were doing was unfair saying that patients who had started the process could not just whip out a credit card and pay the amount that would be due to the hospital. The upshot was that Dr. Lee paid my hospital expenses from her office and I am paying her. How's that for having someone in your corner. The surgery happened the next morning. Everything went even better than expected and I have lost 16 pounds!

After going through all the financial preparation, tests, and emotional preparation, my surgery has been cancelled. I knew in the beginning that my insurance would not touch bariatric surgery. With that in mind, I made arrangements to get Care Credit based on information I got at the information session I went to at the beginning of this whole process. That was about five months ago. Yesterday, I was supposed to have my final lab work, chest x-ray, etc. before my surgery this coming Wednesday. Apparently, during that five-month period, the hospital decided to discontinue accepting Care Credit leaving me out of the  money I had already paid for tests,etc. and without any options to pay for my surgery.
Thanks to those of you who have been supportive to this point. I wish you all the very best.
Penny

Ten days until surgery and counting. I am trying to stay calm. I just cannot imagine what I will look like a year from now. I am thinking about almost nothing else. Every time I think I have all my questions answered, I come up with some more. It's a little nerve-wracking that, so far, I am not sure who is going to be able to stay with me when I come home from the hospital. I guess I should be graceful that everyone has a job and has to be at work during the day. I'm sure it will work out. It always does.

I guess I should take some "before" pictures. I am fascinated by the "before" and "after" photos on this site. Wow!

After being very active most of my life, I found myself having difficulty keeping up with that level of activity, especially after tearing the medial as well as the lateral meniscus in my left knee. After having the notion of bariatric surgery in the back of my mind for a long time, this injury was the incentive to move forward. I was so depressed after the injury. It took my a long time and a lot of pain to get my housework done. I limped when I walked and took forever to get from Point A to Point B. The more depressed I got about not being able to do what I want in terms of activity, I took the leap and began the process to have Lap-Band surgery. There were times when the movement through the process seemed like a snowball on a steep hill. It has been both scary and exciting. My surgery is March 10th. I have had some inner conflict about having the surgery. There are two voices in my head arguing about the wisdom of this decision. The one voice keeps reminding me that I have failed on every diet know to humankind so what makes me think I will be successful this time. The other voice tells me that this will be a life-changing experience and I will be a healthier me from now on. I think one of the most distressing thing about my obesity is the lack of respect from those in my working environment. I am the director of a learning center where we provide tutoring and other learnng support activities for college students. After working so hard to get a Ph. D. and racking up 21 years in the business, I feel that I am constantly disrespected because of my weight. My staff is wonderful and we have a great time together. It is those from my supervisor up who can't seem to get beyond how I look. It will be interesting to see their reaction as the weight comes off.